About 5,000 security officers will be deployed for the Presidential inauguration ceremony on Saturday, January 7, 2017.

The Presidential transition team revealed this at a press briefing today, on [Tuesday], to provide updates on its work ahead of the swearing-in ceremony.

According to the Spokesperson of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) side of the Transition team, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, access to the various areas of the Independent Square will be highly restricted to a few people with the required accreditation.

He said the security will be on high-alert to avert any unfortunate incident.

“Our friends with National Security and the various security agencies are providing us with about 5,000 men and women drawn from the security agencies; military, police, national security etc.

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Access to the various circles will be strictly on accreditation basis and we ask people who are coming in to expect some form of screening in the light of the times that we find ourselves in, and to kindly cooperate with the security agencies during these exercises.”

He said some major streets will be blocked ahead of the start of the event, and parking restricted to some specific persons at designated areas including the Parliament House and the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park.

‘Media arrangements’

Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah said a media center will be provided at the Independence Square, venue for the inauguration ceremony, to accommodate all media houses.

He noted that, a central audio and video outlet will be provided to enable the various media houses pick their feed and broadcast to the public.

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He said media photographers with the necessary accreditation will be granted access to the inner perimeter where they can take photos.

‘Preparations underway ahead of official event’

Meanwhile, Citi News‘ Philip Nii Lartey says preparations are underway at the Independence Square to set up the place for the event on Saturday.

Some artisans were spotted at the venue mounting the stages and canopies, replacing worn-out property, and painting among other cleaning services.